Investing In Gold And Silver For Capital Preservation And Appreciation

Precious Metals

Silver and platinum are one among the precious metals. Platinum is a beautiful silver-white metal very much like silver. The chemical symbol is Pt and its name is derived from the Spanish word plata which stands for silver. It is found in pure metallic chunks and is chemically inert even at extremely high temperatures and the platinum precious metal is therefore used as a catalyst in various chemical reactions to produce important compounds.

Silver and platinum are one among the precious metals. Platinum is a beautiful silver-white metal very much like silver. The chemical symbol is Pt and its name is derived from the Spanish word plata which stands for silver. It is found in pure metallic chunks and is chemically inert even at extremely high temperatures and the platinum precious metal is therefore used as a catalyst in various chemical reactions to produce important compounds.

Platinum prices are mostly influenced by the price of gold but increases with the increase in car sales as well as increase in jewelry sales. The price of platinum is affected by the price of gold. As there have been many finds in South Africa, this has helped to support the prices. Sometimes there are strikes at the sites which cuts down on the production and affects the prices. Such types of strikes create a setback and it takes many weeks for the mines to get back to their original production capacity.

The price of silver rises along with that of gold and in addition it rises with the demand from the industry as also by investors. Industrial demand mainly fuels the price of silver as was seen in the year 2009. According to the Silver Institution there is a great demand for silver coins, ETFs or bars and it has actually gone up by 180% when compared to the prices in 2008. The iShares Silver Trust shows an increase of 1000 tons of silver from 9000 tons last month to 10000 tons this month which obviously shows the increase in the silver investment.

Silver has a special place in precious metals as its price increases when people buy it with a security investment in mind just like other precious metals. But additionally, silver has industrial needs too which fuels its price. When the economy revives the industrial demand for this precious metal also recovers and then there is an additional demand for it whereby the price of silver too rises.

The price of the platinum precious metal has risen by 23% year over year while that of silver has shown a remarkable rise of 31% every year. The platinum price has increased by about 11% from its price in January 2010 and is now at $1,673/oz whereas it was $1,700/oz in the middle of the year. The price of silver had an all time high in 1980 at $50/oz and is now at $23/oz.

Want to learn more about precious metals? Browse the precious metals prices such as the price of silver and learn more about gold, silver and the platinum precious metal today.